If psychoanalysis emerged just before World War I to deal with the repressions of Puritanism, the hedonistic age has its counterpa...rt in sensitivity training, encounter groups, "joy therapy," and similar techniques that have two characteristics essentially derived from a hedonistic mood: they are conducted almost exclusively in groups; and they try to "unblock" the individual by physical contact, by groping, touching, fondling, manipulating. Where the earlier intention of psychoanalysis was to enable the patient to achieve self-insight and thereby redirect his life--an aim inseparable from a moral context--the newer therapies are entirely instrumental and psychologistic; their aim is to "free" the person from inhibitions and restraints so that he or she can more easily express his impulses and feelings.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs. We must become more self-consci...ous and more explicit in our praise and reinforcement as children use unstructured play materials: "That's good. You use your own ideas...." "That's good. You did it your way...." "That's good. You thought it all out yourself."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

Of course children benefit from positive feedback. But praise and rewards are not the only methods of reinforcement. More emphasis... should be place on appreciation--reinforcement related explicitly and directly to the content of the child's interest and efforts.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »